Farewell

Every once in a while I thought of acquaintances  or friends whom I met sometime in my life - on the plane, at a university, at a seminar, etc.  Sometimes I can't help but wonder what happens to any of these people.  If we are lucky, our paths cross each other at the least expected time or place.

Last evening we invited a friend who is about to leave this country for Indonesia.  She will be teaching somewhere in the Java Island beginning next month.  The last time we invited her to our house was when we had a house warming gathering.  At that time she had just arrived in Kuantan for a few weeks.  I thought of meeting and doing activities more often with her considering that she is "alone" in Malaysia.  As usual, each one of us get caught up with so many things in life and forgot about our noble intention.  All of a sudden, there is no more time to do anything except to have her for a few hours before she leaves for good.  I suppose we could visit her in Indonesia or she could come to Kuantan during her breaks.  But, what are the chances for that to happen?  Only Allah knows.

Anyway, we had a great time eating soft-shelled  Tacos with watermelon cubes and homemade chocolate chip cookies.  I hope we can visit each other in the cyber world and that she will not be one of those in my "wondering what happen to 'em" list.  Good luck and enjoy your new experience Melanie.

Special Day

There is one special date which occurs every year since 2001 and today is one of them, 111111. I heard many couples plan to tie the knot today and some pregnant ladies have even made appointments to have Caesarian section! What a crazy world we live in. As a practicing Muslim I do not believe in any day or date to be special because each moment is special for as long as God allows me to breathe the air and live a healthy life. This morning was special because we had to get up at 4.30 to send Harris to his school. He needed to be there by 5.00 am in order to join a leadership camp trip to Kelantan. I guess by now he has already arrived at wherever that camp is supposed to be held. The schedule for the camp is quite packed and I really hope that he will learn something that will benefit him for a long time to come.Yesterday was special because I took Najla, Hannah, Yasmin, and Balqis to IIUM swimming pool. Yasmin learned how to swim when she was 4 years old and she could still float and perform some breast strokes. She told me that she has forgotten other styles. Hannah was excited because she managed to float after being taught by a few ladies who were there in the pool. Najla had a hard time learning but if we go often enough she might be able to do it soon. She has been bugging me to send her to a swimming class. I talked to the life guard and was told that her class will only start in March next year. I think Najla swallowed a lot of water from the pool because she had stomach upset at 2am. She woke up crying and said she needed to vomit. After several attempts, nothing happened. Luckily she felt better half an hour later. There are 2 things that she really would like to learn: swimming and riding a bicycle. Well she shouldn't feel so bad because I learned how to ride a bike at the age of 24 and only knew how to swim in my 40s :)

Danial came home for Eid Adha celebration last Friday (Nov. 4) and stayed until Wednesday. As usual we celebrated our Eid in my mom's village. It was a nice family-get-together time. All the other kids were at school on Wednesday and Steve was at work. Since I was on leave, I managed to bake 2 batches of my wonderful chocolate chip cookies. I was so engrossed baking that Danial almost missed his bus! Alhamdulillah we got to the bus station just in time.

Wedding of the Century

Some people get married at such young age and others opt not to marry at all. But my dearest friend who happens to be my loyal housemate when I was a student at IU found her soul mate a bit later compared to many of my friends. But boy isn't she the luckiest of all because not only she got a husband but she got 8 instant children! Wow! On top of that her husband is going to open a spa for her to manage! Husband, children, business, 3-in-1, not a bad deal at all. So it was worth the waiting. I was shocked and very happy when she called and told me the news a few months before the wedding. Of course I would not have missed the ceremony for the world. My whole family (except for Danial) went to KB to attend the wedding. We stayed at a very nice and cozy inn called Barokah Inn. I got the place through a friend's recommendation. I think for RM 70 a night, the room was really worth it. After all, we only need it to sleep for a few hours. They provided 1 queen-sized and 1 single-sized beds. The worker told me that they have 9 rooms in total. It it located on Jalan Kebun Sultan and the telephone number is 013-988 7929 (in case if the inquiring minds want to know).

Yaumul Ihtifal

This year, Yaumul Ihtifal (awards day) for both al Irsyad Secondary school and al Hidayah Secondary school were held at locations other than their own campuses. Irsyad had theirs at KIPSAS hall while Hidayah had theirs at UTM. We attended both ceremonies. Yasmin got a few awards which include being the 1st in the class, public speaking contest winner, and choral speaking group winner. Harris got a consolation prize for public speaking.

The winner of the coral speaking group contest performed during the ceremony

These are the presents Yasmin and Harris brought home :)

Yaumul Ihtifal for al Hidayah was held at UTM on Sunday, 10 April 2011 and we stayed at the Scholars Inn on UTM campus. It was a two-room apartment, with a kitchen, air-conditioning, and even an astro on a flat-screen TV! The kids loved it especially Danial because he wanted to watch Mann U played that night. I could have enjoyed myself more but unfortunately I had to finish marking all the final exam papers for my students. Danial got 2 awards, one for good academic standing and the other for getting a second place in inter-school debate.

After the ceremony ended we went to his friend's house. He lives near UTM because his father is a lecturer in the Architecture department at the University. It was a good visit. It was on the way to his friend's house that I found out Danial performed in Dikir Barat! I was really disappointed for not realizing it because when the group came out, I was in the toilet with Najla and Hannah. Danial's friend's parents gave us a wonderful lunch. We left their house around 3 pm and reached home at 10 pm.

Danial and his good friend Huzaifah

SMSNS Reunion

Last Saturday night was a really special night because it was a reunion for my classmates when I was at Sekolah Menengah Sains Negeri Sembilan. I was so excited to go ever since I was informed of the gathering. My plan was to leave early in the morning so I could spend a lot of time visiting with my friends. Unfortunately, my kids' school had an award giving ceremony on the same day from 8.30am to 1.00pm at Vistana Hotel. Well, it was not a 100% unfortunate because Danial received 6 or 7 awards and Yasmin received 3 or 4 awards. Anyway, after the ceremony ended, we rushed home to perform our Zuhur prayer and left Kuantan around 3.00pm.

As usual, when we traveled with the kids, we had to make a few stops for different reasons. By the time we arrived in Seremban it was already dark. Since we were so unfamiliar with the housing area where the reunion was held, we had to stop and ask for directions 3 times! Finally we made it around 8.00pm. A few of my friends and the teachers had already left. Many more were still there. I think that was the most high school friends I had seen in one gathering. I was surprised at the amount of food being served. Kudos to my friends Siti and Ajim who have done a great job planning and preparing for it. It was really exciting and I hope we will continue doing it from time to time, at least twice a year.

I am quite disappointed because my camera quit functioning just a few days before the gathering. I couldn't take any pictures but I am hoping that my friends will email me some soon.

Mini Reunion @ TC

Thursday 12 March was our friend As' birthday so she asked me if we could get together with a few friends somewhere in town. We named a few possible places but in the end we both agreed on going to Telok Chempedak beach on Friday after work. She contacted Musab and Yani while I contacted Niki, Madhi, Amba, Lynnette, Tipah, Azie, Gie, Syamala, Ahmad, Joyce, Intan, and Gamini. They were all sounded excited to join but in the end only 5 of us actually showed up. Syamala had to give tuition, Joyce was too busy, Amba was tired, Intan was planning on going back to her "kampung" and Gie is no longer in Kuantan! Ahmad and Tipah said they were coming but only God knows what happened. I guess Niki was caught in the jam on the road as well as at home with her kids. Somehow, Azie, Lynette, and Gamini never replied until today. I wonder what went wrong. Oh well, maybe next time. We had a grand time anyway except that As had to leave early because her son had a terrible pain in his ear. Here are some shots at the beach.

CNY Holidays

I wonder how it feels to have a permanent 4-day weekend. We sure had a grand fun this past Chinese New Year 4-day weekend. My family and I went back to our kampung in NS and my mom was so excited when she introduced to me her "foster grand children" from USM. Apparently someone in my village had arranged an outreach program for about 60 USM students to stay with foster families. My mom "adopted" 2 girls (one is a pharmacy major and the other is a physics major) and my sister took in 2 boys - a biology major and ... (I forgot what's the other boy's major). They had such packed activities that I hardly saw them except at breakfast and dinner times. They climbed all the way to the top of Mount Angsi. I must admit that I have never climbed that mountain because I am not much of a jungle person. I hate creepy-crawlies so tennis courts and pingpong tables are my territories.
At the same time my cousin from Singapore also came and spent the entire 4-day weekend with us. It was so good to have him with us because we haven't seen each other for years. That was his maiden solo travel to our kampung. I think he really enjoyed himself being away from the hussle and bustle of the big Lion city. My husband took him to a miniature version of Angsi climb. They went to our small rubber estate which is very closely located to the Angsi mountain. After checking on our rubber trees, Steve decided to take my cousin hiking along the path which has been cleared by the National Electricity Board personnel. They had such a wonderful conversation that they lost tract of the way back to our estate. Luckily they didn't get "lost" for very long.
On Tuesday morning we had to drive all the way to JB to drop my cousin at the bus station to return to his hometown. Then we went up to Senai to send my eldest son back to his school. After everything was settled at his hostel, the rest of us continued our journey to Kuantan. The moment we arrived which was a little after midnight, I realized that we had been on the road for more than 12 hours. Time really flies when we have fun.

Good People

A few weeks back I was in KL to take care of personal business. I didn't know where to stay and didn't know how to get to that place. I contacted Husni, a very good friend of our family and he managed to contact a lady to help me. As soon as Husni dropped me at a bus stop, that lady gave me a ride to her friend's apartment. Since the place was sparsely populated she sent another person by the name of Herna to accompany me that night. I was thinking how lucky I was to be able to meet with such wonderful ladies who were willing to bend over backward to help a total stranger from Kuantan. I am glad good people still exist.

Rezeki

Wow! Besarnya kuih bahulu. Mesti sedap! Tak sabar nak kongsi dengan anak-anak balik nanti.


Kalau dah rezeki pasti tak kemana. Itulah ungkapan yang terfikir dikepala sewaktu kawan saya datang ke pejabat tengahari tadi membawa buah tangan dari majlis perkahwinan adiknya pada hari Sabtu lepas. Saya sekeluarga telah dijemput untuk sama-sama hadir ke majlis perkahwinan yang berlangsung di Temerloh tu. Memang pada asalnya kami teruja sangat nak pergi sebab ini dah kali kedua dijemput untuk ke Temerloh. Kali pertama semasa perkahwinan beliau sendiri tapi masa tu kami sekeluarga di USA kalau tak silap, tak ada rezeki untuk hadir. Jadi bila dapat undangan yang kedua ni memang bersemangat nak pergi. Malangnya manusia hanya boleh merancang tapi Allah jua yang menentukan.

Kebetulan minggu lepas (10 Oktober) jiran paling hampir saya melangsungkan perkahwinan anak bongsu beliau dan emak saya pun kenal dengan jiran ni. Jadi saya pelawa emak untuk datang ke rumah supaya boleh sama-sama meraikan kenduri kawin yang terakhir, sebab lepas ni dah tak ada anak beliau yang nak kawin dah. Emak pun setuju dan terus beli tiket bas untuk ke Kuantan. Tambahan pula jiran saya tu (yang lelakinya) sedang mengidap barah paru-paru di peringkat yang agak kritikal. Jadi tujuan emak datang selain dari dari nak tengok anaknya kahwin ialah nak ziarah dia sekali. Manalah tahu kalau-kalau kesempatan ini merupakan perjumpaan mereka yang terakhir. Tetapi malangnya, sehari sebelum emak datang, dia mendapat sakit sendi kaki dan lutut. Tetapi dikuatkannya juga azam dan akhirnya sampai juga ke Kuantan.

Selepas menghadiri kenduri tersebut, sakit sendi-sendi emak semakin teruk. Kami bercadang untuk memasukkannya ke wad tapi emak agak keberatan sebab takut kalau doktor tak benarkan dia keluar pada hujung minggunya. Dia nekad untuk balik kampung pada hari Sabtu 17 Oktober lalu. Maka rancangan kami untuk ke Temerloh terpaksa dibatalkan. Insya Allah jika ada lagi jemputan lain kali, mungkin kami dapat juga pergi.

Raya 2009

I was really looking forward to having a week off so that my family and I could go visit our relatives and friends whom we haven’t seen since last Raya (or before that). Unfortunately the first 2 days of Raya we couldn’t visit anybody who lives more than 20 kilometers away because my mom was not feeling well. She had neck and chest pains. She was especially worse in the mornings.

Since my mom was feeling much better on the third Raya day, we went to Melaka to visit my long lost roommate when I was at a university. It was so wonderful seeing her again because the last time we saw each other was before I got married and now I have been married for 17 years! I used to contact her when she was at UPM but after her retirement we lost contact. She has a beautiful English cottage which she “designed” herself (with the help of an architect of course!). She has a beautiful garden and she even has two date trees in her yard. We arrived at her house around 2.30 pm and stayed until 5pm! Time flew by so fast when we had fun reminiscing the good old days.

On the way home we stopped in Tampin to visit my aunty. A while later, my cousin’s son dropped by. Actually I have never met this guy. After we introduced each other he called his father (my cousin) and told him that I was at my aunt’s house. I felt obligated to visit my cousin whom I haven’t seen since the day I got married! We ended up getting back at my mom’s house very late at night.

My former roommate and I

On the 4^th day of Raya we went to KL to renew Harris’ and Najla’s passports. We were so lucky to have a guest from Morroco to celebrate Raya this year. On the way to KL we dropped him off at Seremban Bus terminal to catch a 10.30am bus to Kuantan. He had to go home early to find a new apartment because his apartment contract would expire at the end of September. After we were done with our business at the passport office, it was time for lunch. All of them wanted to eat at one of the fast food joints, so we visited Colonel Sanders and gained fat!

Our Moroccan guest & our kidsHannah & Najla at Col. Sanders' constructing their Sponge Bob

While the kids were eating I sent messages to 2 of my friends, Kak Ju and Marzi. We went to Kak Ju’s house in Ampang first because Marzi was out shopping at the Mid Valley mall. Marzi said we could come and visit at 4pm. It was good seeing Kak Ju again. I am not sure if we saw her last Raya or not. She is in food business making different sauces with a factory in Klang. Before we left her house, she gave us a bottle each of BBQ, chilli, mayonnaise, and pasta sauce. I would like to help promote her products (with no commission, ok) under the brand Jasma. Her products can be bought at Giant and other supermarkets / hyper markets in Malaysia. They are 100% halal products. Then we went to PJ to visit Marzi and her family.

Jasma Halal Products

Our final stop for the day was MPH at Mid Valley. The kids went wild searching for their favorite books and we spent around RM450 for all of them. By the time we got back to my mom’s house, it was close to midnight.

The next day my mom asked Steve and I to accompany her to the bank in KP and to buy groceries. On the way back from KP, we stopped by my uncle’s and my aunty’s house in Terachi. Only Najla came with us so she got extra “duit raya” compared to her other siblings. On Friday (the 6^th day), we didn’t go anywhere, just loafed around and relaxed. I bought a book titled “Travelog Haji” by Prof. Kamil when we went to MPH on Wednesday. I started reading it on Thursday night and finished it by Friday morning. It was such a refreshing read. I definitely recommend the book to any practicing Muslim.

Saturday afternoon we went to KLIA to send Yasmin’s friend off to Egypt. She’s the same age as Yasmin (should be in form 1) but her parents sent her to Egypt to study Quran. She seemed so matured for her age. Steve and I would definitely not send our kids overseas at such young age. We want to keep them under our roof for as long as we can because once they leave, they will be gone. That’s why we didn’t send Danial and Yasmin to any boarding schools although both of them got 5As for their UPSR.

Yasmin's friend & her mom

Since KLIA is close enough to Bangi, we decided to visit our friend AA and his family in BB Bangi. We arrived around 9pm and left nearly 2 hours later. We didn’t plan to stay that long but since we haven’t seen each other for quite sometime, we got a little carried away. For the third time, we got back to my mom’s house at around midnight. Alhamdulillah she was doing fine.

We wanted to go back to Kuantan on Saturday but my niece convinced us to stay until Sunday because her sister (my other niece) had an engagement at noon on that day. Her fiancé is from Perak so the guy’s family brought along pomelos, star fruits, and guavas. Finally, at 4pm we left the kampong. All in all, it was a good Raya despite the below expectation beginning.

Our Raya photo

Off to Mexico

Steve and Juan at the airport

On Tuesday 28 July 2009 our friend Juan left for Mexico after 2 months vacation in Terengganu. Steve, Najla, Yasmin, and I went to see him off at Kuantan airport. The flight was on time at 6.50pm. Hope he had a safe trip home.

Spaghetti Dinner

Yesterday evening I didn't go to the gymn or jogging in anticipation of a new bread maker cum multipurpose oven which was supposed to be delivered by my friend Izad. Since I was at home I decided to cook spaghetti bolognaise and made a pitcher of lemonade. It was all worth my effort! My spaghetti dinner was a huge success because I received tons of praises "sedapnya Mak, sedapnya Mak" especially from Danial, Yasmin, and Harris. Hannah and Najla were cautious at first but then decided to jump in and join the other fanatics. Harris ate so much until his stomach hurt! That boy has such a small stomach, he probably will not have a weight problem in life. I was so busy cooking I forgot about the oven. Then I called Izad and asked why he didn't come and guess what? He forgot! I asked him to send it on Wednesday because this evening we would like to send Juan off to the airport.

Mmmm... YummyBurppp... We are full!

Juan’s Visit to Our Kampong

We have been going back to the “kampong” quite often lately because it’s fruit season. If we don’t go and eat all those fruits, who else is going to do that? However, last weekend (18 July) was special because we had a guest, Juan, a wonderful medical student from Mexico. He plans to do a practical training in the US so he met with Steve a few times to get used to the American accent. We didn’t travel to the kampong together because he was in KL the day we drove back last Saturday. He arrived with his parents around 7.15pm. That night my sister had a gathering at her house so Juan got to experience a kampong style gathering. He ate all the hot and spicy dishes (masak lemak cili padi) and had no trouble eating rice with his hand. The next morning, Steve, Najla, Hannah and I sent him to St Joseph Church (SJC) in KP but it was closed. We drove to the nearby Methodist Church in case if the Minister knew when SJC would be opened. We were told that the mass would be held at 11am in Bahau instead of KP for that weekend. Since we still had plenty of time, we headed to the nearby stall for breakfast. Juan and Steve ate “nasi lemak”, Najla and Hannah ate nuggets, and I ate curry puffs.

After we finished our breakfast, we decided to play tourist guide so we took Juan to the Sri Menanti Old Palace. We didn’t stay long, just enough to take a few photos, so that Juan would not miss his mass. Since we are not too familiar with Bahau, we asked the policemen who were standing outside of a supermarket. Two of them started their motor cycles and showed us the way to the church.

We went back to my mom’s house at lunch time. We wanted to take some fruits but it started to rain really hard. We all took a nap until the rain stopped. Then we took some “manggis”, “langsat”, “duku”, and “mata kuching”. Steve also took Juan to the durian orchard across the river and they got 2 big durians. We cut one up so Juan could eat it and he really liked the taste because it was fresh from the tree. We hope he had a good time because he seemed to blend in well with the kampong folks. We’ll miss him when he goes back to Mexico.

Najla posed by the river while waiting for Steve and Juan getting durians

Getting ready to get "mata kucing" behind my sister's house

Eating dinner at my mom's house before we headed back to Kuantan